Rahul, Akhilesh leave rally amid 'stampede-like' situation in Prayagraj

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday abandoned a joint poll meeting in Phulpur area here without delivering speech as their supporters broke through barricades trying to reach the dais.

According to police sources, scores of Congress and SP supporters had reached the venue to attend the rally. When Yadav arrived at the venue, the crowd standing in front of the stage broke through the barricades to reach it, creating a "stampede-like" situation, they said.

In a video clip shared on the official social media handle of both the SP and the Congress, people on the stage can be heard asking the supporters to move back.

The appeals made from the stage failed to have any effect on the crowd.
 

Then Gandhi and Yadav discussed something for a few minutes before they left the stage while being surrounded by their security staff.

The joint rally was organised in favour of Amarnath Maurya who is contesting on a SP ticket from the Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

Samajwadi Party sources said that Yadav and Gandhi decided not to address the rally following the ruckus on the advice of security officials.

The duo later attended another poll rally in Prayagraj.

Neither the SP nor the Congress has issued any statement about the rally.

When contacted, Congress state president Ajay Rai told PTI, "I am in Varanasi and don't have any information about the rally in Phulpur.